Welcome to the Office of Grants and Programs

Grant News

Congratulations to the War Crimes Research Office and the Women in International Law Program.

They have been awarded a grant of nearly $500,000 ($496,297 in total) by the U.S. Department of State for their project, “Strengthening Government Ability to Hold Perpetrators Accountable for Conflict-Related Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the Central African Republic.” The project builds upon the Gender and International Criminal Law Project, including the Gender Jurisprudence Collections, a free online research tool created by the programs. For more information, click here.

Congratulations also to the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project.

The Bernstein Family Foundation awarded $25,000 to support the work of this long-standing program that inspires students to care and learn about important constitutional issues. Highly talented and motivated WCL law students are selected to teach year-long civic education and constitutional literacy courses to public high school students in D.C. and Maryland. Click here for more information.

The Humphrey Program is a Fulbright Exchange activity funded by the Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education. The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program brings together accomplished professionals who are at a midpoint in their careers for a year of study in international law and related professional experience. This year’s Fellows hail from Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Congo, Georgia, Haiti, Mauritius, Morocco, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe.

In support of the law school's mission, the Office of Grants and Programs:

Assists WCL's programs in all aspects of pre- and post-grantseeking activity;

Develops and implements strategic initiatives to engage the local and global community in pursuit of outstanding legal education; and

Supports specialized summer and other academic programs in Washington, D.C. and abroad.

We work closely with faculty, staff, and students to create meaningful opportunities in legal training and practice areas. Read more in these pages about how we help WCL achieve excellence and how we might be able to help you. Please contact us with questions or visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.

What We Do

Grantseeking

Innovative, thoughtful, and pioneering grant and program design and implementation resulted in WCL managing 38 grant awards totaling $2.8M from 23 sponsors in Fiscal Year 2016 (ending April 30, 2016). Grant awards play a vital role in contributing to innovation in research, teaching, and project development at WCL. Awards provide faculty, staff and students with unique opportunities to pursue legal issues in vital areas related to academic studies and scholarship. For more information about these awards, click here.

To encourage and help WCL's programs raise money to do their critically-needed work, the Office of Grants and Programs dedicates every Wednesday morning to assist faculty and staff who are seeking grant- or contract-sponsored funding. Any faculty or staff looking for funding for their work are encouraged to make an appointment with us. We assist WCL’s centers, programs and projects in all aspects of pre- and post-award activity, including identifying potential sponsors; helping design programs; assisting in the development of proposals and budgets; ensuring compliance with institutional policies and processes; and meeting sponsor requirements for reporting.

We help faculty and staff learn how to use the research tools available to them through American University and the resources needed to successfully implement and manage projects once funding is received. We also offer skills training for students in all aspects of grantseeking. While grantseeking can be challenging, competitive, and time-consuming, the funds raised from foundations, government agencies, and other sources are a vital tool enabling faculty, staff and students to pursue their work. Success in winning grants empowers the whole WCL community.

Strategic Initiatives

Sometimes a special opportunity emerges that complements WCL's mission and benefits a part of the global community. These initiatives often find a home in Grants and Programs. One such initiative is a multiple-part training seminar on leadership and board governance designed for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Graduate Fellows. This seminar has been offered each of the last two years.

In its fifth year, the Program on Judicial Reform in Latin America and the U.S. bring together judges and legal practitioners from throughout the Americas to participate in this unique summer program which provides an overview of the reform processes taking place within Latin America’s judicial systems with a special emphasis on criminal justice reforms. The program, held in July 2016 in Washington, D.C., is organized jointly with the Centro de Estudios de Justicia de las Américas. Cooperating institutions for this program have included the National Center for State Courts and American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative.

Summer Programs in Washington, D.C.

Each year, WCL's summer law programs provide students and practitioners with expert instruction, intensive training, and networking opportunities with some of the most influential people in their respective fields of law. Programs qualify for academic or for Continuing Legal Education credit, are one- to four-weeks, and are held in D.C. and abroad.